Anything new in Bazball?

Call it what you likemdashBazball if you mustmdashbut England made it very clear under Ben Stokes ldquoWe play aggressively against all teams including AustraliardquoWhat England does is actually employ an old but clever tactic they try to win from the first ball in an attempt to take the draw out of the equationBy attacking sensibly the England batsmen score quickly in order to gauge the oppositionrsquos reaction They got an immediate response from skipper Pat Cummins who surprisingly preferred Scott Bolandrsquos steadiness over Mitchell Starcrsquos wickettaking ability and then set some unusually deep fieldersAggressiveness is a major change from an England side that mostly employed conservative ways in the past However having witnessed a classic Joe Root century and then surprisingly declared on the first evening Stokes could happily rate the first challenge a successCummins a good skipper tooStokes like Cummins is a good captain Hersquos absolutely correct to try and win from the first ball because it empowers his team and is the best way to unsettle the opposition What hersquos yet to discover is how seeking wickets in preference to maintaining a priority of run conservation will work against Australia over a fiveTest seriesIn addition to a vastly experienced Australian attack and their ability to weather an assault the batting lineup has also been welltested Therersquos the solidarity and strong mentality of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne who Australia will rely on for heavyscoring in the seriesTravis Head has been counterattacking for some time and hersquos experienced success with the ploy against Test attacks Australia will also be hoping Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green have viable series but if David Warner overcomes the Stuart Broad hoodoo and scores freely then the England bowlers will feel extreme pressureThat highlights a problem for England the advanced age of their experienced pace bowlers Jimmy Anderson and Broad are both excellent bowlers but if either suffers an agerelated injury then it places a huge burden on the rest of the attack This is especially so because England is uncertain what Stokes provides as a bowler and spinner Moeen Ali doesnrsquot have a good record against Australiarsquos attacking batsmenUnder assault the England attack is less likely to hold their nerve than Australiarsquos lineupExperienced Aussie attackAustralia have a very experienced and good attack Therefore much will depend on Englandrsquos ability to maintain Stokesrsquos tactics faced with an Australian assault and whether they still ldquothink wicketsrdquo when things go awryField placings will play a big part if batsmen of both sides continue to succeed with the plan to attackThe captain who finds the correct spot for his fielders and they then hang on to the catches will hit upon a good recipe for winning a tightly contested seriesAustralia have an advantage as their bowling attack is likely to create more chances and is backed by a superior catching unit As a team Australia are also more likely to effect a spectacular run out making them the better overall fielding sideItrsquos a brave captain who continues to seek wickets especially with improved bats rather than depending purely on run saving but to do so increases the teamrsquos chances of victory The braver individual favours a desire for wickets and will reap the rewards over a fiveTest seriesUtilising a bouncer barrage is something both teams have tried but neither has achieved much success Both captains need to remember that an accurate and surprise bouncerrsquos greatest attribute is that the batsman is uncertain when it will rear its ugly headStokesrsquos tactic of not giving Anderson the new ball is probably because when the lacquer wears off a Dukes ball it starts to swing more Another example of Stokes lateral thinkingThe Ashes favour the Australian team except for one small detail this series is played in the UK Australia hasnrsquot won a series in England since 2001 and trying to break that hoodoo adds further to the Ashes dramaAlso Read Big Ashes question Can England ace Australiarsquos pace